For Bene Madunagu, Feminist and Revolutionary @75 - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

This is a revised and updated version of the tribute I paid the subject five years ago, on March 21, 2017, when she became 70 years old.

Although she has since then lived largely in retirement and ill-health, she has nonetheless done a number of things—directly and indirectly, alone and in combination with others—that now contribute significantly to defining the essence of her entire adult life. The most significant of these “things” is offered as an Update in the closing paragraphs of this edition.

Zinox boss applauds Keystone, says CashToken is revolutionary

ITREALMS:

The notable serial digital entrepreneur and chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh has applauded Keystone Bank plc, describing its partnership with CeLD to launch CashToken as a move that will go a long way to revolutionize customer loyalty in Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

CashToken is an electronic reward and celebratory gift commodity designed to optimize customer loyalty investments for businesses, individuals and government establishments by offering recipients an opportunity to win life-changing cash rewards between N5000 and N100m every week, among other benefits.

Speaking at the 500 CEOs Hyper Centricity conference which featured the official unveiling of CashToken at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos on Thursday April 19th 2018, Ekeh disclosed that one of the major reasons behind the worrisome unemployment situation in the country was the inability of banks and other financial institutions to explore creative avenues to support start-ups and empower millions of jobless youths.

Ekeh, who was the Chairman on the occasion, noted that he had always referred to himself as a digital orphan, considering the challenges he faced in his attempts to raise funds while starting out as an entrepreneur – a situation which inspired him in working extremely hard to offer himself as a collateral in order to realize his corporate ambitions.

“I commend Keystone Bank and CeLD for the launch of CashToken. It is a solution that will revolutionize the scope of customer loyalty and expand access to funding for SMEs. This is a timely intervention, considering the difficulties faced by start-ups, especially those in the tech sector in raising funds to pursue their dreams. When I started out as a struggling tech entrepreneur, it was very difficult raising funds as the banks did not understand technology back then. They were more interested in extending loans and other credit facilities to oil companies.

“Today, we are in an era in which technology is altering the destiny of most countries in the world. Yet, we still see a situation where our banks are still not willing to give a chance to tech start-ups. I also see the governments giving more concentration to agriculture. There is nothing wrong with that but for these youths to embrace farming, then it must be scientific agriculture. We must understand that today’s youths are digital natives, many of whom are eager to take their place in a knowledge economy driven by equal access to wealth. Tech start-ups are defined by attitude, culture and lifestyle. This is the language of the current generation. Just ask your kids at home what they would like to become in future and see what responses you will get from them.

“I urge other banks to follow in the footsteps of Keystone Bank by giving tech start-ups and other smart youths a chance. If we empower 10 tech start-ups and only two of them succeed, the combined returns from that investment will far exceed anything we hope to derive from any other sector,” he said.

The event which climaxed with the unveiling of the CashToken logo, had a number of technocrats, dignitaries and Chief Executive Officers from major organizations in Corporate Nigeria present. Among these was Managing Director, Keystone Bank, Obeahon Ohiwerei; Founder and CEO, CeLD Innovations, Lai Labode; Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya; Acting GMD/CEO, Heritage Bank Ltd., Jude Monye; Director General, Consumer Protection Council, Tunde Irukera; Director General, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila; Group Managing Director, Interswitch, Mitchel Elegbe; Managing Director, CornerStone Insurance, Ganiu Musa; Managing Director, Aiico Multishield Ltd., Dr. Leke Oshuniyi; Enterprise Commercial Lead, Microsoft Nigeria, Wale Olokodana; Executive Secretary, National Lottery Trust Fund, Bello Maigari and Chairman, Obalende-Ikoyi Local Govt Area., Hon Fuad Atanda-Lawal, among others.

Nenye Dom/ED, Ops

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An applause for revolutionary Dunoma @FAAN

Commentary@ITRealms:

Leadership is as much a question of timing as anything else. A leader must appear on the scene when people are looking for leadership as Mao Tse Tung did in 1931, as Winston Churchill did in 1940 and as Lenin did in 1917, when he comes, he must offer a simple, eloquent message, that is what Engr. Saleh did when he assumed office in 2014 he gave the message “building the institution through selfless service to our fatherland. 

The appointment of Engr. Saleh Dunoma as the Managing Director of FAAN, was the best thing to have happened in the aviation industry. He came on board when the entire Aviation industry was hungry for Transparent Leadership. He is a seasoned administrator, a great simplifier who cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer solution to huge challenges that have beset the aviation industry for years, which today is understood to be a thing of the past, due to emergence of Engr. Dunoma. 

His resilient, doggedness and his leadership style of placing square pegs in square holes has placed the aviation sector on the plinth of greatness through purposeful leadership.

Suffice it to say that the advent of Engr. Dunoma and his agenda for the aviation sector in the last two years have greatly and enormously transform the   aviation industry with glaring evident of facts. 

It is being obvious that the Aviation sector needed a pragmatic helmsman with wealth of experience, to direct its affair which was found in Engr. Dunoma: quality leadership, purposefulness, accountability, truthfulness, humility, tolerance and love forthe industry. 

Over the years, administrative leadership that eluded the aviation sector, but today FAAN has found it in Engr. Dunoma. People can only be led where they want to go, the leader follows, though a step ahead, Engr. Dunoma has demonstrated a leadership that rides waves, move with the tides and understand the deepest yearnings of the entire staff of FAAN. 

Engr. Dumona has shown that aviation sector can grow to meet up with international best practices and standards even in the midst of pessimist, critics and enemies of development. He has achieved giant strides even with little resources at his disposal and has expressed pragmatism in the face of challenges. Engr. Dunoma dignifies our desire, convince us that aviation industry will become the hub for economic advancement which will be to the advantage of the nation.

He has given FAAN a sense of glory and the   Aviation sector at large, it will be a great disservice if Engr. Dumona do not get applause from us as an organization, whose mandate is to evaluate the performance of public office holders to ensure it is in tandem with parameters of transparency, accountability and probity for the overall economic growth and national development.

We the initiative for leadership and Economic Watch in Nigeria have resolved to promote openness, and at all times with patriotism, where the people opinion direct the course Justice and fair play in the administrative process of Government institutions. We state unequivocally that Engr. Dunoma has proven to us that he has come to serve Nigerians with outmost desire to revolutionize Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria.

It is against this background, we therefore state with all humility and confidence that Engr. Dunoma is currently reflecting back to us, aviation sense of purpose, putting into words aviation dream and hope by transforming her needs and fears into concrete administrative polices and programmes that are result oriented and which today are evident for all to see.

Courtesy: Ambassador Agbonkpolor is the Executive Director of Initiative for leadership and Economic Watch in Nigeria

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